Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to smoking pipes and more particularly to a pipe having an elastic body formed of a heat resistant polymer and a removable heat resistant bowl.
Background
Smoking pipes are well known and have been in use for thousands of years by cultures spanning the globe. According to the prior art, a pipe typically includes a bowl attached to a stem. A bore extends through the stem and connects to the bottom of the bowl. The stem may separate from a shank that extends laterally from the bowl and through which the bore extends. Often times the bowl and shank are formed as a single piece and the stem inserts into the shank and is held in this manner by a mortise and tenon connection. The interior of the bowl forms a combustion chamber into which a dried or substantially dry material, tobacco or the like, is packed and then ignited. Smoke is drawn through the bore by the smoker.
Historically the described structure has been fashioned of materials that are rigid by nature. Briarwood has commonly been used to fashion bowls and stems although other woods are popular. Stems have commonly been fashioned of wood or plastic. The prior art also includes pipes made of glass, various metals, ceramic materials and stone. All of these pipes have a single common feature, their rigidity. Pipe stems have been known to break when subjected to forces that exceed their mechanical strength characteristics.
Advantage may be found in providing a smoking pipe that includes a pipe body formed of an elastic material that is readily deformable while having the capability of returning substantially to the pipe's original shape and configuration. Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a smoking pipe that includes a pipe body formed of an elastic material so that it may be folded, bent, crushed and generally deformed while retaining the capability of returning to its original shape configuration.
Smoking pipes require frequent and thorough cleaning in order to “draw” properly and in order to reduce unwanted tastes that may be experienced when a pipe accumulates residue of previously smoked materials. Cleaning a pipe is a tedious undertaking achieved only partially at best by scraping the bowl with a tool designed for this purpose and by inserting a “pipe cleaner,” an implement including a bristle formed on a twisted wire repeatedly through the stem and the draft hole at the bottom of the combustion chamber in an attempt to clean the interior surface of the bore.
Advantage may also then be found in providing a smoking pipe that includes a removable bowl and a pipe body each formed of a material that may be cleaned by immersion in a liquid that acts as a mild solvent or cleaning solution that readily removes built up residue from the pipes surfaces. Therefore another object of the present invention is to provide a smoking pipe that includes a removable bowl and a pipe body each formed of a material that may be cleaned by immersion in a liquid that acts as a mild solvent or cleaning solution that readily removes built up residue from the pipes surfaces.
Pipe smokers often times regulate air flow through the pipe's bore from the combustion chamber to the mouthpiece by placing one or more fingers over the open end of the bowl in a manner that reduces airflow volume while increasing airflow velocity through the combustion chamber. This practice is exercised in the attempt to get the charge in the pipe's combustion chamber to burn hotter or more completely. The risk of burning one's fingers while exercising this practice is obvious.
Advantage may also then be found in providing a smoking pipe that includes a pipe body formed of an elastic material that may be deformed by pinching the stem and holding the stem in a manner that regulates airflow volume while increasing airflow velocity through the combustion chamber in the attempt to get the charge in the pipe's combustion chamber to burn hotter or more completely. Therefore another object of the present invention is to provide a smoking pipe that includes a pipe body formed of an elastic material that may be deformed by pinching the stem and holding the stem in a manner that regulates airflow volume through the pipe stem.